[SLL] Hardware Recommendation

[Jules Agee]

Dave Pfaltzgraff wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> After around 10 years of providing reliable service, I'm afraid that my
> home server may be dying on me. Configured back then with Slackware ?.?, I
> had implemented software RAID using some 3G SCSI drives. Since this system
> is used to backup critical files, the RAID function is important. My PC
> vendor is suggesting I go to a system with an Intel DQ35JO motherboard
> because it has hardware RAID capability. I'm not sure which chip sets are
> used and subsequently wether or not I would have Linux support.

Hi Dave,
I'd be dissatisfied with software RAID5 performance, and I'll second
what Jared said about being skeptical of your vendor's claims of
hardware RAID on the DQ35JO. If you decide the expense of a
well-supported hardware RAID is justified for your home system, I've had
good luck with the HP SmartArray products:
http://cciss.sourceforge.net/#supportedhardware

How much data are we talking about? If your required capacity is less
than about 750GB, buy a couple large capacity SATA drives and mirror
them in software.

How critical are these files? RAID won't protect your data from a fire.
An off-site service might be worth considering, if cloning a drive (or
burning a DVD) and putting it in a fire safe or bank deposit box is
impractical.

Another thing - if you want to back up data stored on your other
computers in the house to the server, BackupPC is a good choice:
http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/

-- 
Jules Agee
System Administrator
Pacific Coast Feather Co.
julesa at pcf.com      x284